Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to add comment from Elections Board Chair Linda Devore clarifying that the Cliffdale early voting site remains under consideration.
Some Fayetteville residents are concerned that western Fayetteville voters might not get an early voting site for the November election, despite two unanimous votes by the city council to pay $40,000 to operate one at the Cliffdale Recreation Center.
In front of a packed crowd on Tuesday, the Republican-led Cumberland County Board of Elections voted 3-2 to reject a proposal to open two early voting sites ahead of the Nov. 4 municipal elections. One would be the Board of Elections office and the other would be Cliffdale Recreation Center.
The decision was along party lines, with Republicans Linda Devore, Bree Eldridge and Ryan Johnson voting against the plan and Democrats Irene Grimes and Derek Edmonds voting for it.
But the Cliffdale early voting site is not dead, Devore, the board chair, told CityView later on Tuesday. She prefers to have two early voting sites for the Fayetteville City Council election, she said, and one of these is the Cliffdale Recreation Center.
The difference of opinion among the board members, Devore said, is whether the other early voting site will be the Board of Elections office near downtown Fayetteville or the Kiwanis Recreation Center, which is off Fort Bragg Road by Fayetteville Technical Community College.
She said both proposals — Cliffdale-Kiwanis and Cliffdale-elections office — are being sent to the State Board of Elections for consideration. The state board has to take up the matter because the county board was unable to reach a unanimous decision.
Devore prefers the Kiwanis Recreation Center over the elections office for an early voting location, she said. She described the Kiwanis Recreation Center as more centrally located than the elections office and said its space and parking are better able to handle a large number of early voters.
Now the North Carolina State Board of Elections in Raleigh will pick early voting sites for the municipal elections for Fayetteville and the other eight towns in Cumberland County, Elections Director Angie Amaro said. The state board’s meeting date has not been set.
Voting rights advocates, worried that the Cliffdale early voting site is under threat, went to the Board of Elections meeting on Tuesday. The Fayetteville branch of the NAACP, Democracy North Carolina and Common Cause North Carolina urged residents to fill the meeting room.
“The Cliffdale Recreation Center is located in the heart of a large Black community and has served as a convenient, trusted, and vital access point for voters,” Democracy NC said in a statement. “Stripping this location from the early voting list would disproportionately impact Black voters, working families, seniors, and others who depend on easy access to the ballot.”
Thirty-two spectators crammed into the small board room in the county elections office on Tuesday. More stood down the hall. The spectators were not given an opportunity to speak to the board members during the meeting. Devore said later that public comment had been received at the June 10 county Board of Elections meeting.
The city council voted in February and March to ask for the Cliffdale Recreation Center to serve as a voting site, as the recreation center did in the 2023 city council election.
“I think as we look to try to encourage more voter participation, citizens in west Fayetteville … really have to traverse a long way across town to participate in the process,” Mayor Mitch Colvin said at the Feb. 24 city council meeting.
The city’s request was subject to the approval of the Cumberland County Board of Elections. Tuesday’s meeting marked the third time the board failed to reach a unanimous decision on early voting sites, which is required by law.
The other eight municipalities have not asked for early voting sites in their communities. Early voting runs from Oct. 16 to Nov. 1.
At meetings this summer, the county Board of Elections:
- Voted 4-1 on June 10 to open two early voting sites. One would be at the centrally located Kiwanis Recreation Center, and the second one would be Cliffdale Recreation Center. This vote failed due to the lack of a unanimous decision. Democrat Irene Grimes voted against this plan.
- Voted 4-1 on June 23 to operate one location, the Board of Elections office on Fountainhead Lane. This is on Haymount Hill near downtown Fayetteville. This failed due to the lack of unanimity. Democrat Billy R. King (who has since left the board) voted against this plan.
- Voted 3-2 on Tuesday against a proposal to open two locations: The Board of Elections office and the Cliffdale Recreation Center. Republicans Linda Devore, Bree Eldridge and Ryan Johnson voted against the plan. Democrats Grimes and Derek Edmonds voted for it.
“We are definitely disappointed with today’s decision, because we would like to see Cliffdale stay as an early voting site,” Lisette Rodriguez of Common Cause told CityView on Tuesday.
Without the Cliffdale site, she said, west Fayetteville voters would have to drive 15 to 25 minutes to cast their ballots early if the only site is either the Board of Elections office or the Kiwanis Recreation Center.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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